Savannah Chrisley revealed she will gain custody of her 16-year-old brother Grayson and 10-year-old niece Chloe when her parents, Todd Chrisley and Julie Chrisley, head to prison in January for their tax fraud and evasion case. The 25-year-old Chrisley Knows Best star dropped the information on the Unlocked podcast on Nov. 21 just hours ahead of her parents’ prison sentencing. She called it a “really painful” time for her and her family.
“I may come home without both of my parents. That’s what the chances are,” she bluntly stated on the podcast, adding that she has never been away from her family on a holiday. “I come home Tuesday, and I have custody of a 16-year-old and a 10-year-old, and we spend our first Thanksgiving not as a family.” Hours later, it was revealed that Todd, 53, and Julie, 49, would serve 12 and seven years in prison, respectively. They will have one final Thanksgiving and Christmas with their bustling brood, as their reporting date is Jan. 15, 2023.
Savannah said the most complicated part about her “new normal” is figuring out how to raise kids while helping them get through the unfortunate situation. “[I”m] trying to navigate how you teach two younger children who aren’t fully developed yet and … get them to understand the circumstances,” she explained. While Grayson is Savannah’s youngest sibling, Chloe is the daughter of her brother, Kyle, and his ex-wife, Teresa Terry.
The combined 19 years of prison time came about five months after the reality stars and high ballers were found guilty of bank fraud and tax evasion charges. Todd was convicted of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States, bank fraud, and tax fraud. Meanwhile, his wife of 26 years was found guilty of tax fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and conspiracy to defraud the United States. The pair made their money by obtaining $36 million worth of loans from local Atlanta, Ga. banks and evading their taxes starting in 2008. They then used fraudulent loans to pay back their original loans. When the money dried up, they filed for bankruptcy.
Ahead of their sentencing, a source close to Todd and Julie revealed to HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY that the pair were “nervous” and “emotional” about their future. “Todd and Julie are extremely emotional and nervous right now because they do not know what their fate is going to be,” they explained. “The entire family is on edge, and they are praying that, since [Todd’s mother] Nanny Faye is suffering from bladder cancer and they have Chloe and Grayson to take care of, their sentence will not be harsh.”
Following Todd and Julie’s sentencing, Deadline reported that Chrisley Knows Best and its spinoff Growing Up Chrisley, which stars Savannah and her brother Chase, 26, have been axed.